How long do gray whales live? How do they die?
Because of an absence of teeth (which can be used to estimate age in other mammals), it is difficult to tell the age of a gray whale. Gray whales do die of natural causes and are sometimes preyed upon by killer whales. Pods of killer whales have been known to attack gray whales throughout their range, especially young animals during migration. Humans commercially hunted gray whales for oil, meat, and apparel materials (for corset stays, umbrella ribs, buggy whips etc.) from the 17th to early 20th centuries. Today, indigenous hunters practice subsistence whaling on a small-scale. Gray whales may also be harmed by pollution, ship strikes, or entanglement in fishing gear. View a picture of a gray whale Source: National Marine Mammal Laboratory This document is provided solely for educational and informational purposes.
